Soybeans tick up after slide; wheat subdued

PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans edged higher on Wednesday, steadying after hitting a 2019 low the previous day, as investors weighed the chances of a US-China trade deal against bumper crop prospects in South America and swine fever in China.

Wheat ticked lower as a bounce from one-month lows this week petered out in the face of favourable growing conditions for US and Russian wheat.

Corn was almost unchanged, steadying above a seven-month low hit on Tuesday, as traders assessed US rain forecasts for guidance on whether planting would pick up in the Midwest.

The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.3 percent at $8.64-1/2 a bushel by 1217 GMT. The contract fell on Tuesday to its lowest since Nov. 27 at $8.60-3/4.

CBOT wheat eased by 0.1 percent to $4.44-1/2 a bushel. Corn added 0.1 percent to $3.60-1/2 a bushel, having hit its weakest since Sept. 20 at $3.50-1/4 in the previous session.

The White House said on Tuesday that senior US and Chinese officials will hold two rounds of talks in late April and early May as the countries seek a resolution to a tariff battle that has disrupted massive flows of US soybeans to China.

However, the outcome of the negotiations remains uncertain, while the spread of African swine fever in China has reduced demand for protein-rich animal feed.

China's biggest pig and poultry producer, Wen's Foodstuff Group, on Wednesday said it had recorded a loss of 460.5 million yuan ($68.6 million) for the first three months of the year as weak hog prices eroded earnings and it spent more on protecting its herds from disease.

Brazil's agriculture minister, meanwhile, said that Brazilian soybean exports to China will definitely decline this year as African swine fever cuts demand for the animal feed, though potential growth in meat exports would offset this,

A big harvest expected in both Brazil and Argentina could also swell global supplies of soybeans.

"There is a strong soybean supply push coming from South America at a time when we have uncertainty over demand because of the African swine fever in China," said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at brokerage IKON Commodities.

"For wheat, we are expecting bigger crops in the Black Sea region and Europe compared with last year."

The USDA on Monday rated 62 percent of the US winter wheat crop in good-to-excellent condition, up from 60 percent a week earlier.

Favourable weather during spring grain sowing in Black Sea producers Russia and Ukraine is increasing the chances of another large grain harvest thanks to healthy levels of soil moisture, analysts and traders said.